Conway's Game Of Life

Arduino code to run Conway's Game of Life on a NeoPixel Matrix

Description

This project allows you to run a simulation of Conway's Game of Life on an Arduino connected to a NeoPixel Matrix. Tested on Arduino Nano with an 8x8 matrix.

Requirements

Hardware

• Arduino
• NeoPixel Matrix
• Power supply to power the NeoPixels as desired
• Misc. hardware components to set everything up (Breadboard, jumper wires, buttons, USB cable)

Software

• Arduino IDE
• Adafruit NeoMatrix library (installs Adafruit NeoPixel library too)

Design Choices

• The canvas is considered endless, i.e, the matrix loops over from left-right edges and top-bottom edges
• The starting states are decided randomly
• The simulation runs until all cells are dead or until a fixed number of iterations have reached (to avoid getting stuck in an infinitely stable loop)
• If the simulation ends because all cells are dead, the matrix flashes red
• If the simulation ends because it has reached the max number of iterations, the matrix flashes green
• The new start state is again decided randomly
• Option to show an intermediate state where dying cells are red and new cells are green

Further planned enhancements

• Method to show intermediate states
  • Show an intermediate state where dying cells are red and new cells are green --> Added on 27th April 2023
  • Fade the new/dying cells
• Add buttons/knob to control brightness
• Add buttons/knob to control speed of next generation
• Add button to disable/enable intermediate states